Hello,
Today after coming some work on my research project, I went with the group to Ahmed's house. Ahmed lives about forty-five minutes away from SIT. He drove us to his house to have lunch and to meet his children.
Ahmed and his wife have six children, five boys and one girl. They are also expecting another child, perhaps a little girl. Lunch was great, Ahmed's wife made us mansef, a traditional Jordanian dish. Mansef is lamb or chicken cooked in fermented yoghurt and served over rice with nuts. I very much love this dish. Two Sheiks also came over to the house to visit while we were there. They ate lunch as well. Turns out, These two men were two badia host dads for two students in the program. It was nice how the students could talk to their home stay dad and catch up for a bit.
The men sat in a different room than the women, so Ahmed came in and told me to come to the men's room. I did not know what to expect, but I followed hesitantly. When I entered the room, a man in a blue dishdash and kefiya turned around. It was my Badia host father, or Ahmed's uncle. I talked to him for a bit and then he told me that "mama" was next door. It was a nice conversation and he seemed legitmently happy to see me. One of Ahmed's friends ushered me next door so I could sit with mama. I walked next door to find my Badia host mom sitting in a new pinkish thobe around a large group of women. I wonder if this was inspired by my pink thobe that I wore to the Badia (She kept telling me over and over again when I lived with her how much she loved the color of my thobe). She invited me to sit down and have tea. She was really happy to see me and was happy to catch up. I had a large glass of tea and asked about how her kids were and how the village was. She said all was well and that she was just coming to visit family. She asked how Ariel was, I said good and that was all she said/ asked about Ariel. I was impressed by how much she really was happy to see me. I did not think her or her husband liked me at all, but apparently they did. She told me that my Arabic has really improved and that she was impressed. I really appreciated that. It was nice to try to talk with a bedouin accent again. She definitely noticed and felt happy that I made the gesture.
I actually enjoyed getting to see my Badia host parents again. They were kind. I was wearing my skinny jeans, flip flops and flannel shirt...essentially I was just myself. There was no judgement from either side. It was nice to have another conversation or chance to connect with them. In a sense, I had the opportunity to redo part of my previous experience with them. I was treated as family and a guest. They immediately jumped up to make sure I had a large glass of Bedouin tea and snacks, even when I said it was not necessary. We even joked about the amount of tea my Badia host mother drank. I am shocked to say this, but I had a good time. After about five teen minutes, I walked back next door to hang out with the SIT people at Ahmed's. I felt like I got some type of closure. My Badia host mother was much warmer towards me and frankly less scary. It was like seeing a different side of her. She introduced me to people with pride as well. Once again...I'm shocked.
I really liked Ahmed's house alot. It was in the suburbs of Amman and was an actual house with some land. His house had elements of the Badia in addition to elements of Amman households.
Things that were Badia Elements:
1) There were separate sitting rooms for men and women
2) The furniture was arranged all around the walls
3) No pictures of animals or people on the wall- religious reasons
4) Bedouin tea- tea with buckets of sugar and mint
Amman elements
1) There were actual sofas to sit on. In the Badia you sit on cushions
2) Nice furnishings and decorations. Very Modern.
After spending a nice afternoon together, Ahmed helped us hail a taxi and go home.
Once I was home, my host mother and sister helped me edit something I wrote in Arabic. Wow, it was not pretty. I thought I had done well, but apparently not. So much more to learn....
Talk to you soon,
Natalie
Today after coming some work on my research project, I went with the group to Ahmed's house. Ahmed lives about forty-five minutes away from SIT. He drove us to his house to have lunch and to meet his children.
Ahmed and his wife have six children, five boys and one girl. They are also expecting another child, perhaps a little girl. Lunch was great, Ahmed's wife made us mansef, a traditional Jordanian dish. Mansef is lamb or chicken cooked in fermented yoghurt and served over rice with nuts. I very much love this dish. Two Sheiks also came over to the house to visit while we were there. They ate lunch as well. Turns out, These two men were two badia host dads for two students in the program. It was nice how the students could talk to their home stay dad and catch up for a bit.
The men sat in a different room than the women, so Ahmed came in and told me to come to the men's room. I did not know what to expect, but I followed hesitantly. When I entered the room, a man in a blue dishdash and kefiya turned around. It was my Badia host father, or Ahmed's uncle. I talked to him for a bit and then he told me that "mama" was next door. It was a nice conversation and he seemed legitmently happy to see me. One of Ahmed's friends ushered me next door so I could sit with mama. I walked next door to find my Badia host mom sitting in a new pinkish thobe around a large group of women. I wonder if this was inspired by my pink thobe that I wore to the Badia (She kept telling me over and over again when I lived with her how much she loved the color of my thobe). She invited me to sit down and have tea. She was really happy to see me and was happy to catch up. I had a large glass of tea and asked about how her kids were and how the village was. She said all was well and that she was just coming to visit family. She asked how Ariel was, I said good and that was all she said/ asked about Ariel. I was impressed by how much she really was happy to see me. I did not think her or her husband liked me at all, but apparently they did. She told me that my Arabic has really improved and that she was impressed. I really appreciated that. It was nice to try to talk with a bedouin accent again. She definitely noticed and felt happy that I made the gesture.
I actually enjoyed getting to see my Badia host parents again. They were kind. I was wearing my skinny jeans, flip flops and flannel shirt...essentially I was just myself. There was no judgement from either side. It was nice to have another conversation or chance to connect with them. In a sense, I had the opportunity to redo part of my previous experience with them. I was treated as family and a guest. They immediately jumped up to make sure I had a large glass of Bedouin tea and snacks, even when I said it was not necessary. We even joked about the amount of tea my Badia host mother drank. I am shocked to say this, but I had a good time. After about five teen minutes, I walked back next door to hang out with the SIT people at Ahmed's. I felt like I got some type of closure. My Badia host mother was much warmer towards me and frankly less scary. It was like seeing a different side of her. She introduced me to people with pride as well. Once again...I'm shocked.
I really liked Ahmed's house alot. It was in the suburbs of Amman and was an actual house with some land. His house had elements of the Badia in addition to elements of Amman households.
Things that were Badia Elements:
1) There were separate sitting rooms for men and women
2) The furniture was arranged all around the walls
3) No pictures of animals or people on the wall- religious reasons
4) Bedouin tea- tea with buckets of sugar and mint
Amman elements
1) There were actual sofas to sit on. In the Badia you sit on cushions
2) Nice furnishings and decorations. Very Modern.
After spending a nice afternoon together, Ahmed helped us hail a taxi and go home.
Once I was home, my host mother and sister helped me edit something I wrote in Arabic. Wow, it was not pretty. I thought I had done well, but apparently not. So much more to learn....
Talk to you soon,
Natalie
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